


A Warm Embrace (This Feels Like Love)

by ActuallyRandomPerson



Series: things that spawn from the drabbles [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Fluff, Imagine that, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, bday fic :), cas and dean use their words even once they're already dating, cas gives him one, dean deserves a hug, dean has issues we been knew, ily sky, its important y'all, no beta we die like literally everyone on this show honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29932938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ActuallyRandomPerson/pseuds/ActuallyRandomPerson
Summary: "Dean felt like absolute shit every time Cas reached for him and his first instinct was to shy away from the touch, even though the angel seemed to understand. And even when he did melt into Cas’ embrace, it didn’t take long for him to pull away, especially if someone else was in the room with them.A relationship was supposed to be built on communication, however, and even if it was something Dean usually found himself avoiding at all costs, Dean was trying to do things differently with Cas. So about a month and a half into Them, he found himself sitting across from the angel for a Talk."or, Dean and Cas hug. because They Deserve It.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: things that spawn from the drabbles [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2117403
Comments: 8
Kudos: 73





	A Warm Embrace (This Feels Like Love)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bottledbasil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bottledbasil/gifts).



> going in I was like hmst what to write that they will appreciate. well, we both want cas to hug us..... and we’re both dean coded............ and also dean deserves cas hugs............................  
> u can see where this is going. the hug felt more awkward to write than i expected it to but that's also bc i haven't indulged in a long hug w a friend recently so i was like 'how do i describe he ahh'.  
> also i did this instead of studying because i can't fuckin speed up a module thing we have to do and my brain went brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr flejhbgn so sky if i fail psych b4 terms even rly started its ur fault :p  
> idk where the name came from but it was In My Mind so if its like. stolen from somewhere else, oops.

Being in a relationship with Castiel after all these years of friendship was… strange, honestly.

Strange in the _best_ of ways, obviously, but still strange.

They’d both spent so much time denying themselves the things they both obviously wanted that being freely allowed to indulge in their mutual affection for each other was taking some getting used to, and he wasn’t sure how best to remedy that fact.

He felt like absolute shit every time Cas reached for him and his first instinct was to shy away from the touch, even though the angel seemed to understand. And even when he _did_ melt into Cas’ embrace, it didn’t take long for him to pull away, especially if someone else was in the room with them.

A relationship was supposed to be built on communication, however, and even if it was something Dean usually found himself avoiding at all costs, Dean was trying to do things _differently_ with Cas. So about a month and a half into Them, he found himself sitting across from the angel for a Talk.

“Nothing bad, I promise, I just… Feel like shit about the fact that I’ve been struggling with certain aspects of— well. Physical intimacy, I guess.”

Cas cocked his head.

“I haven’t noticed any issues in the sexual intimacy department. I’m sorry if I missed anything on your side of thi—”

“Uh— Not that kind of physical intimacy, Cas. Trust me, we have _zero_ issues there. More… casual stuff, I mean.”

“Oh, you mean the fact that you are still struggling to get past your internal boundaries on showing casual affection to male partners, especially in a more public setting.”

“I— Yeah.”

“Dean, I do not wish to make you feel uncomfortable. If you aren’t yet at a stage where you feel you can indulge in public displays of affection with me, that’s perfectly fine. Although I enjoy being physically close to you, I wish for this relationship to move at whatever speed you need it to.”

“And I really appreciate that, angel, but I _want_ to be okay with PDA! I wanna be able to do shit like holding your hand in public without feeling like I’m gonna have a friggin’ heart attack as a result. But I don’t know how to get my dumbass brain to accept that fact.”

Castiel remained silent for a few moments, studying Dean intensely. He would’ve felt unnerved by the stare if he hadn’t already spent years on the end of it. Instead, he just felt _seen_.

“If I may suggest something?” Cas asked, and Dean snorted.

“Yeah, that’s… kinda why I’m talking to you about this, babe.”

“I feel like you are approaching this from the wrong end of things, in some ways. Rather than focusing on why you struggle with PDA specifically, you should instead try to overcome the general barriers towards affection you put up in your mind even when you are in private. Once you are more comfortable with non-sexual intimacy as a whole, it will be easier for you to engage in those acts while in public.”

“There’s still the issue of _how_ though, Cas. Public or otherwise, I don’t know how to get my brain to accept that sorta affection as okay.”

“The easiest way would be for us to engage in those acts more often in private, and for you to slowly push at your boundaries in the process. We could start now, actually, given Sam is not going to be back in the bunker at any point today.”

Now it was Dean’s turn to be confused.

“Meaning???”

Cas sighed.

“We should hug more when we are alone. Starting now.”

Dean didn’t know why _that_ made him flush lightly, especially since they’d engaged in much more scandalous acts that very morning, but he guessed a decade of pretending he _didn’t_ want a hug from the very hot angel he considered his best friend was bound to fuck up his internal wiring somewhat. Still, he found himself standing up and moving closer towards Cas when the angel himself got up from his seat, and he saw a glimmer of a smile cross Castiel’s face right before warm arms wrapped around him.

At first, Dean was slightly stiff. He didn’t _quite_ know how to make himself feel okay with this, even if half his brain was screaming at him to just ‘ _relax,_ goddammit!!’. The hold was still _nice,_ even if Dean didn’t really know what to do (so he was used to bro hugs that lasted long enough for a few quick slaps on the back or impulsive ‘thank god you’re not dead’ embraces, sue him) but he didn’t really see how this would help him break down his internal boundaries.

But then Castiel shifted so one of his arms was rubbing soothingly up and down Dean’s back, and he found himself _melting._

His arms moved of their own accord, wrapping around Cas’ back tightly. He gripped the back of Cas’ shirt and tilted his head so it was as buried in the slightly shorter angel’s neck as possible. He felt fingers entangle in his hair, and he softened impossibly further.

How long they stayed like this, Dean couldn’t tell you. Normally he had an internal counter in his mind, one that he couldn’t ignore, making him painfully aware of every moment he spent wrapped up in Cas’ casual affection. But something about _this_ embrace had silenced all those internal worries, and he allowed himself to get lost in the wave of overwhelming _love_ he could feel.

He doubted he’d even have noticed if anyone walked in the room.

They couldn’t stay like this forever, though, so eventually he found himself disentangling from Cas’ arms. They stared at each other silently for a moment, Dean afraid to break the moment by disrupting the quiet, but he found the words welling up inside him.

“ _I love you,_ ” he said helplessly, and Cas smirked lightly.

“I know.”

Before Dean could protest (he was _not_ Leia, thank-you-very-much), Cas had softened again and pulled him in for a loving kiss.

“I love you too, Dean.”

**Author's Note:**

> i was gonna add more and have them like, continue to b more physically affectionate in scenarios where it was easier for Dean to accept w/out that internal fear till they got to a point where they were just talking casually to sam while snuggled together on the couch, but this felt like a more fitting ending  
> as always i love hearing from y'all!!!


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